Alucard

My build journal (click to download)

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Alucard was one of my most daunting and challenging costumes I've done to this point. Sewing was always what I would consider to be one of my weaknesses, but I set a goal for myself: win a Master's award with a costume that is all about fabric and sewing. I spent a year practicing sewing techniques and learning how to use and draft patterns. When the Netflix series came out, my friends Taylor and Sarah made some amazing costumes from it and said that they needed an Alucard. Since Symphony of the Night was one of my favourite games growing up, I had to answer that challenge. With the love, support, and advice of my friends, I managed not only to finish it, but also win a Best in Show award at the 2018 Calgary Expo.

I competed along with Fantasy's Soul Cosplay who made a Maria Renard costume (check her out on Facebook and Instagram). With the win at the Calgary Expo, we qualified for the Masters of Cosplay Grand Prix in Toronto where we competed against other Best in Show winners from Boston, Dallas, and Orlando.

The costume itself weighs 19 pounds, mostly in black fabric. While it is primarily fabric, there are little bits of other techniques used. These include leatherwork and thermoplastics (for the scabbard and boots), sculpting and sanding (for the sword), 3D printing and resin casting (for the square buttons), metal casting (for the clasps on the cloak), and wig styling and makeup. The makeup was particularly fun to learn as I'd never really had done contouring and "normal" makeup; it's always been scars and wrinkles and body painting.

This costume has been such an incredible milestone in my cosplay journey, and there are so many people that have helped me along this road. This is also the first time that I wrote a detailed build journal and kept track of the costs of materials (which you can download for yourself by clicking on the book above).